Digital Currency Weekly Recap 9-18-2016

Digital Currency Weekly Recap 9-18-2016

Europol Creates Cryptocurrency Working Group

The European Union law enforcement agency Europol is partnering with Interpol and the non-profit Basel Institute on Governance for a new project designed to investigate, identify, and eliminate money laundering and other criminal activity involving digital currencies. As part of the effort, the group will organize workshops to facilitate collaboration, and create a network of experts familiar with digital currency and other relevant subjects. The move is the latest in a series of steps taken by the European and international law enforcement groups over the last year, as they have attempted to understand and react to a perceived increase in cryptocurrency-related crimes and terror funding.

In a statement published on Europol’s site, the agency noted that “There is a clear consensus that digital currencies pose a money laundering and terrorism financing threat. A small number of cases have already shown Law Enforcement Agencies that money laundering and terrorism financing can easily take place inside virtual environments, offering high levels of anonymity and low levels of detection removing many of the risks associated with real-world money laundering and terrorism financing activities.”

That consensus referred to in the statement is a new assertion, given that Europol earlier this year acknowledged that it could not actually identify the funding sources used by Islamic State terrorists operating on the continent. In that report, the agency noted that they had not been able to confirm that terror groups were using digital currencies. Those earlier findings appear to have been cast aside in favor of a new narrative more aligned with the agency’s apparent agenda.

House Passes Resolution Supporting Cryptocurrency

The United States House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution on digital currency and the blockchain this last Monday, expressing support for the new technology. The resolution is, of course, just an expression of Congressional opinion on the subject, and thus not something that is intended as part of the lawmaking process. However, it is worth noting that these types of resolutions often provide clues about where the legislature’s collective thoughts are on a given topic of national interest.

The resolution acknowledges the benefits of digital currency in the area of secure payments and transparency, and calls on the government to develop a consistent national policy to address the technology. Such a policy could be an important step toward encouraging more widespread acceptance and adoption of digital currency in the United States.

Bitsquare Now Supporting Lisk

Lisk recently announced that Bitcoin exchange Bitsquare will be providing support for the LSK cryptocurrency token. While Lisk is an app platform for blockchain sidechain and app development, LSK is the twelfth-most valuable digital currency at the present time, and enjoys market capitalization of more than $27 million. It will now join cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, DAO, Ether, Ether Classic, Monero, and others on the Bitsquare exchange.

New Filmmaker Creating First Feature Film Funded by Crypto Crowdsale

Filmmaker and artist Mitzi Peirone is preparing to make her first foray into feature films with a movie called Braid. While the movie might not seem at first glance to be anything more than just another in a long line of psychological thrillers, it does have one attribute that sets it apart from the rest of the cinematic universe: it is the first American feature film that will have been funded using a digital currency crowdsale. All hail the democratization of filmmaking!

Author: Ken Chase

Freelance writer whose interests include topics ranging from technology and finance to politics, fitness, and all things canine. Aspiring polymath, semi-professional skeptic, and passionate advocate for the judicious use of the Oxford comma.

Top 10 Biggest Losers

Quotes

There’s a lot of misconception about what bitcoin actually is due to media narratives. The most popular reference I hear mentioned is Silk Road, but Silk Road wasn’t enabled by bitcoin. People forget or don’t realize that Silk Road was enabled by Tor, an ‘anonymizing’ proxy network. Bitcoin isn’t actually an anonymous currency it’s pseudo-anonymous. Want to know what’s anonymous? Cash.

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